Thrombectomy is a medical procedure that removes a blood clot (e.g., thrombus) from a vessel, such as an artery or vein. Left untreated thrombus may occlude a vessel or break free and preclude blood flow to one or more organs.
One technique to perform a thrombectomy includes a catheter having an infusion lumen that delivers lytic solutions that can breakdown or dissolve the thrombus. The catheter or a second catheter includes an aspiration lumen that aspirates the broken down or dissolved thrombus particulate.
Thrombectomy devices (e.g., thrombectomy catheters) can use fluid jet streams to ablate thrombus. In an example, a catheter used during a thrombectomy procedure is fed over a guidewire such that the catheter is concentric with the guidewire. In that instance, the catheter body performing the thrombectomy is positioned within a lumen of the catheter. In order to facilitate delivery and navigate through vasculature of a patient, the diameter of the catheter is relatively small compared to a vessel being treated. The catheter provides a treatment delivery footprint within the vessel that is equal to the diameter of the catheter body (e.g., as the guidewire is coincident with the guidewire).